1950s “Black and White”

For several decades the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson supreme court decision which ruled that white and black schools were to be separate, but equal, had not been successfully challenged, and instead had become the accepted norm. However, an opportunity to vanquish that decision arose in the early 1950’s when Oliver Brown requested an injunction that would end segregation of public schools in Topeka, Kansas on behalf of his little girl, Linda Brown (Brown v. Board of Education). Thus, the 1950’s will forever be known as the decade that gave birth to the integration of whites and blacks in public schools and equality to education.

Related links on Brown vs. Board of Education

National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas

General Information

Full Text of Supreme Court Decision

40 Years Later

Two social workers share their perspective on Race Relations in the 1950’s